When “NO” Is a ‘Maybe’

Sometimes NO! is just a “nooo…oh.” Not every obedience command need be a thunderous apocalyptic negative.

St. John The Revelator, I ain’t.

I can really only think of two absolute commands that should be instantly obeyed: Komm and Platz. ‘Come’ might prevent Tzuri from being ambushed by a ill-tempered swamp-ape, and a well-timed ‘down’ might lessen her chance of getting flattened by an unrepentant dump truck.

Climbing up on furniture? That’s a mini “no-no”. For some obscure reason I thought it would be fun making a game out of shooing her off the couch.

Let her jump up to explore,

tussle with her a bit,

then gently usher her back down.

After all, I’m an enlightened ‘new-age’ disciplinarian; no need to traumatize a youngin’.

Unfortunately, Tzuri – who can easily leap up on sofas and coffee tables in a single bound – prefers to slyly make up her own rules.

“It’s okay just this far, isn’t it?”

“Besides – I’m so cute when I pose for you!”

“You want me to get way back down THERE?”

“Maybe when he’s not looking I’ll just scoot one back leg up at a time.”

What saved my brilliant training skills from utter disaster was when Tzuri dropped her toy and had to climb back down to retrieve it. Whew, lucky me!